Ovum expects the market for public (externally hosted) cloud services to grow at a 29.4% annual rate from 2011 to 2016, eventually reaching a size of $66B. The markets for IaaS cloud solutions such as those from AMZN and RAX, and PaaS solutions such as CRM's Force.com, are expected to grow even faster. (also)

DigiTimes' sources believe Amazon (AMZN) will ship 4M Kindle Fire units in 2011 - a solid start, but well below the 11M-15M iPad (AAPL) units expected to ship in Q4. It's also claimed Amazon will sell 15M+ units of its new e-ink Kindle models (I, II) this year, a sales rate that would represent a major ramp from the 6M Kindles IDC estimates Amazon sold in 1H '11.

A source tells VentureBeat that Amazon (AMZN) is "in serious negotiations" to acquire H-P's (HPQ) webOS unit. Though Amazon's just-announced Kindle Fire is based on Android (GOOG), Amazon has highly customized the OS, and so adopting large portions of webOS' interface and feature set seems within the realm of possibility.

Best Buy (BBY) has had a rough year, thanks to concerns about weak consumer spending and competition from the likes of AMZN and WMT. But Chad Sandstedt thinks bears are overlooking the profitability of Best Buy's high-margin services business. This, he thinks, can prop up the company, which now trades at 8x EPS, even if it fails to grow.

Netflix's (NFLX-11%) massive selloff today has plenty of investors baffled. But ever-bearish Tony Wible believes it has much to do with investors realizing the unlikelihood of an Amazon (AMZN) acquisition, as well as a general fear of subscriber losses. Wible also thinks Amazon is just one of many competitors that will go after Netflix via subsidized pricing.

Although Research In Motion (RIMM-5.1%) denies the report that it's dumping the Playbook, the analyst drew his conclusion because a Playbook facility had laid off lots of workers. Plus, Best Buy (BBY) is slashing prices, bringing to mind what H-P did with the Touchpad, OptionMonster's Jon Najarian says. And after Amazon's (AMZN) move, the RIMs of the world had little choice.

It's still a momentum trade - to the downside. Netflix (NFLX-8.8%) sinks on no fresh news, but shares broke through $125 yesterday so now people want to dump them. Competition hurts: Amazon’s (AMZN) new Kindle will let users stream movies, and Microsoft (MSFT) will get some pay TV content from Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon (VZ) streamed to its Xbox Live.

Retailers find an interesting characteristic of consumers who browse their websites using tablets: They're much more likely to pull the trigger on purchases than other online shoppers. Many retailers also say tablet users place bigger orders - in some cases 10%-20% more - on average than shoppers using PCs or smartphones.

Its shares clobbered thanks to Amazon's (AMZN+2.4%) Kindle fiesta (I, II, III), Barnes & Noble (BKS-6.9%) is already sending out e-mails offering the Nook Color to customers at a $25 discount. It's not far-fetched to think B&N will also be more aggressive in its pricing for upcoming Nook models than has been previously rumored.

Still more from Amazon (AMZN): CEO Jeff Bezos definitively says it will collect sales taxes from California customers by 2013. Amazon will not challenge the law in court or close its California facilities to avoid sales-tax collection, Bezos says.

Amazon.com Inc is an online retailer. The Company sells its products through the website which provides services, such as advertising services and co-branded credit card agreements. It also offerselectronic devices like Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets.